Jarmok: Slowly you creep upon the amber colored deer. You move in deliberate steps quietly and aware of all that is around you. The hunger for blood and flesh burns within you. Trickling down are a few feeble tears of blue and green light that do manage to break through the canopy of leaves above you. Everything seems fantastically surreal as if it were a dream.

Slowly you move forward never taking you eyes off of your prey. The deer looks to your direction and you stop and stand as still as a statue. Reluctantly the deer goes back to eating the feyberries off the bush. Again you move slowly ever forward.

You wake just before daybreak lying in the cleared area behind your cabin. A sheet of mist hangs above the clearing and the smell of blooming flowers laces the air. A torn carcass of a deer is just a bit away from you and is being feasted on by a flock of ravens. As you begin to get up you notice that you hands are caked with dried blood. You brush your hands off and move to clear your face from dirt. The fine hair on your face is stiff and clumped. You realize that it?s not dirt on your face but rather dried blood. In the midst of its? feasting one of the ravens looks at you and screams its? harsh cry almost as if to thank you for breakfast. You are uncomfortably full but very thirsty.

You get a long drink and wash up. Afterwards, you take your morning walk checking to see if everything is alright. Along the way you see that people, visitors and residents alike, are starting their day. Soon the overfull feeling you had upon waking has relaxed and you again start to feel usual. After you get home you relax a bit and then go to the large bronzewood and goldleaf moon clock. The moons on the clock move with everyday and somehow indicate each moon in its? proper light. After studying the beautifully crafted clock you here a knock at the door. You go to the door and there again is Keltan?s page, Daniel. ?Um, Jarmok sir, Julius has asked for you at the Thornhedge.?

Maal: You wake to a neighboring rooster singing out it?s morning song. You roust out of bed and stretch your muscles from their sleep. The routine of the day has become comfortable for you and you find that it?s nice to have a place once again where you can just really be who you are. Threshold might be a place you could settle in?that is if and when you?re ready to settle. There is no past here that haunts you. It does not, however, shield you from earlier times. If by happenstance you should return to your Homeland what would you find? Would there be amends? Would the War and rumors of war have melted away? Would you see your family again? Home seems so distant and yet too close.

You descend the stairs and see Keltan and the Inn help preparing for the morning onslaught of patrons and other traveling folk. The door opens and you see a young commonly dressed woman enter and approach Keltan. Keltan turns and says, ?Ah, Amaryl?right on time as usual. Did your mother send anything special this day??. Amyl smiles and replies, ?Sir Keltan, I thought every loaf she sent was special to you. I would guess that you mean exceptional, yes? Well, as a matter of fact, she did. You must understand though that it is mealtime bread for it has a bit of special yeast that gets you feeling a bit?happy.? Their conversation continues as they go into the kitchen.

A serving girl comes to ask what you would like for the morning meal. You request, and she goes to fetch. The door opens again and you see Philip Stagdrake enter and he nervously looks about and spots you. He swiftly approaches you and says, ?Maal, Kyle never came home last night??

Ragnar: Inexplicably, the brands on your hands started to itch and hurt. It?s impossible to get back to sleep. You pace around your room confused and bothered. ?What have I ever done that was so bad to deserve this mark of evil??, you think to yourself. ?I?m in this far away town, I don?t know anyone, and I?m not sure if I can trust these people that I?m with.? You shout in your head. Your teeth grind with frustration at so little knowledge of this strange place. You take the leather wrapping off of your hand and look at the dark symbol. It ever stares back at you?this eye never closes. In a fit of rage you grab the unlit lantern at your bedside with your mind and hurl it at the window. It smashes through the glass and for a split second you feel some relief. However, it isn?t enough. Would vengeance offer some release? Who knows?

You cover the brands on your hands. The brands make you no less than who you are but they have changed you and you wonder if you?ll ever be the same as you were before them. You go over to look at the damage of the window and see that Kossuth has yet to break over the east wall. The mist from the Fogveil stretches from house to house and tree to tree. As you look through the widow you see a shrouded figure crossing Angelhawk Bridge through the mist and into town. Your hands itch and pulse a little more and you decide that it?s time to get something for breakfast.

Hafaveraal: The nights you?ve nights spent at the Thornhedge in the common room have given you some amusement. The people that stay there have been wary of your look and they do all that they can not to stare. This particular morning as you stir in the morning hours you see a small dark haired boy at the end of your bed standing in his bed clothes just looking at you. You sit up and look back. After scratching the morning crust from your eyes the boy innocently waves at you and quietly says, ?My name is Joshua. What?s yours?? with a stretch and a yawn you say, ?Hafaveraal.? The boy giggles, ?That?s a funny name! How did you get those stripes on you?? just before you answer you see a woman come over and grab Joshua by the hand and she says to him, ?Come Josh. Let the man be. He?s just getting up.? She looks at you and says, ?Sorry to disturb you sir. He?s just curious. He likes your patterns.? She whisks the boy off to bed. Smelling the morning?s cooking you become painfully aware that you are ravenous. Your stomach gurgles and groans as if on cue and you bound downstairs and see Ragnar and Maal eating breakfast. After having spilled blood with these two before you decide that they would make good company for the morning meal.

Group Conversation: Maal, Ragnar, Hafaveraal, and Jarmok: you?re all sitting at a table in the Thornhedge and Julius, Garret, and an armed man enter. Keltan greets them and escorts them to your table. Julius looks at each of you and nods. ?Jarmok, Maal, and Ragnar, good morning. This man here is Captain Tuskegee. He is in charge of the guard at the Fortmount. He has informed me that today is there last day here and they?ll be leaving tomorrow.? Captain Tuskegee nods and says, ?Threshold and the Tri-State of Vychia are grateful for the help that you?re giving. These are uncertain days upon us and my Field Marshall has called my garrison back to Kurr. I wish you all well.? He turns to face Julius and continues, ?Julius, if you?ll excuse me I must get back to the Fortmount to finalize preparations for our journey.? Julius says, ?Please Captain, be on your way.? At that Captain Tuskegee turns and exits the inn.

Julius and Garret sit at the table. Julius turns to Garret and motions his hand to the table, ?Garret, if you will??. Garret clears his throat and begins, ?Okay, Just so you know, Laren and Kit are not kidnapped. Laren had some personal business to take care of and Kit went with him. Odds are, if everything goes well the two of them will return in a little while. Well, that?s basically it. I didn?t want you guys to worry.?

Julius looks around and says in softer tones, ?Now, there are other things to be concerned about. The three boys, Fergus, William, and Kyle are again missing. Well, at least they didn?t come home last night according to their parents. Philip believes they were planning vengeance. This is of course a bit dim on the kids part. Apparently anger knows no bounds. Here is a sketch of the man Rawling as he was described by the boys. Now, the boys said that his hideout was on The Foot which you have explored to some part. They also said that they were attacked on the road just south of here. Other than those two locations he was not seen anywhere else according to them. These are the only two leads that have been given.On another matter, the people that survived the attack from the trogs are recovering well. They?re still shaken and weak but Ashe?s good hands are looking after them. There is still the matter of the dead family in the old mine. Their recovery is important but not as important as getting back the living, if you take my meaning.Also, a priest has come to claim the charge of The Temple of Shadows. His name is Severen. He claims that he is not an agent of Xanthakos. This doesn?t mean that he?s not dangerous it just means that he is not a spy. I?m not sure if I believe him but it is not mine to refuse his entry into the Temple as Threshold is open to those that wish to honor their deities. Still, Severen must be kept account of.I have recently received word form the other council members and they will be arriving within the next two weeks?with other priests. Any questions??

The party makes plans and quickly leaves for the Foot to investigate

Soon at the Foot:investigate first tunnel entranceJarmok finds new human-sized booted tracks

Ragnar stays behind to guard this entrance while Jarmok, Maal and Haf continue on to the next entrance

Jarmok finds a hole in the cliff partially blocked by rocksdiscussJarmok will sneak in to investigate while Maal and Haf guard entrance

Jarmok sneaks in and finds a table in a roomhe finds a scroll hidden in a nicheJarmok peaks up steep stairsthere are many tracks on the dusty stairs and floor

Jarmok exits and updates the party

party rejoins Ragnar and discusses plan:

Jarmok and Ragnar sneak in thru first entrance while Maal and Haf guard second entranceJarmok and Ragnar descend to the room with the doorthe rats that the party battled last time are slashed and messed upthere are fresh unlit candlesthey both listen at the door, but hear nothinglight Ragnar's torchthere are many booted tracks here

they pass through door and down stairsdebri litters the roomsigns of recent activity can be seen in the thick dustsigns of sparring combat (as opposed to real combat) indicated by broken sticks

they follow hallway which turns eastit is confirmed: the tunnels from the first and second entrances linkJarmok and Ragnar exit

discuss

party leaves and heads north-east through town (this is where the teens said they first met Rawling)they follow the road out of town

Jarmok picks up the kid's tracks again out of town

ask travellers if they've seen kids or Rawlingno-one hascontinue vigilent tracking for another half mileJarmok follows some questionable trackshe then finds a nick in a tree (from a blade)

tracks lead to run-down cabinJarmok approaches stealthilyJarmok looks into the left window and sees a table with debrithere are three kids tied up unconscious and wounded

Jarmok returns and updates the partyafter much debate [and player flip-flopping] Ragnar opens the door mentally [with his so-far unrevealed psi-power]the party charges forward!there are three giant rats in room which attack immediately upon entry

Ragnar charges in and slices a rat [dead]Maal charges in screaming - missesHaf also moves into the cabin through the front while Jarmok moves around to the rear of the building Rawling is here on the far side of the room!he throws a lit lantern onto the floorthe lantern shatters and explodes and the cabin bursts into flames!

Haf moves to the kidsJarmok gets to rear of cabin

Ragnar grabs a kid and heads towards the exitMaal flings spear at Rawling (who is fleeing to another door) but missesMaal follows jumping over the flames as Rawling exits through the doorHaf grabs two kids by ropes [looping rope around them?] and drags them towards door

Ragnar makes it out with the first kidMaal enters a storage room, but Rawling has disappearedshe sees a rat tail disappearing into a hole in the corner of the pantrythe hole is too small and she cannot follow, so she exits the room to see the fire quickly spreading (retrieving her spear in the process)Haf drags the two kids carefully out through the doorHaf joins Ragnar outside with the three kids

Maal smashes a window with her shield and dives out, clumsily scraping her legs on the broken glassMaal: "Where's Jarmok? Rawling has disappeared into a hole! He's escaping!"

Jarmok, who is still behind the cabin, sees the grass moving and sees a huge black rat fleeing into the woodsHe chases the rat into the nearby woodsbut Rawling the rat is very fast and is outdistancing him!

Maal runs around house looking for exit holeshe sees Jarmok running into the woodshe is running on all fours and she is shocked to she him transforming into the shape of a wolf!she notices that there is a burrow at the base of the house here and determines that Rawling the rat must have exited and that Jarmok must be chasing himshe quickly decides to follow

Jarmok the wolf gains on Rawling the rat and pounces on him!Jarmok hits and succeeds in tripping up the ratthe rat stands on his hind legs and morphs into a hybrid rat-man (wearing shield, leather armor and longsword)Jarmok attacks!

Maal loses sight of them, but continues to follow them on their last heading, and closing in on their position as they continue to battle

Ragnar and Haf untie the kids and move away from the burning houseRagnar uses his healing skill on the kids to treat and bind their wounds

Jarmok and Rawling fightJarmok hits

Rawling seems to be healing (regenerating!) as fast as he is hurt by Jarmok's attacksMaal closes in

Ragnar continues to treat the kids with Haf's helpsthe house is a great big fireball now and they make sure to move a safe distance away

Jarmok morphs back into human form and quickly attacks!Maal charges in screaming, but missesJarmok hits and does damage with his axe

Maal hits, but her weapon seems to have no effectJarmok finally splits Rawling open with the axe!Rawling changes to human form and begs for his life, but Jarmok will have none of it and swiftly chops his head off!

Ragnar is finished and is ready to leavethey all head back to town with the kids

Jarmok heads to the council househe meets Julius outside and shows him the head which he is carrying in a baghe also gives the utensils to Julius

Maal, Ragnar and Haf escort the kids to Ashe's houseRagnar runs ahead to warn Ashe of the incoming patientsAshe preparesThe kids are dropped off and Maal and Haf head to the Stump for some aleRagnar stays at Ashe's to watch over the kids[color=#444444:7025948fe8][/color][color=#444444:7025948fe8][/color][color=#444444:7025948fe8][/color]